The Golden State Warriors keep popping up in Paolo Banchero trade chatter, and the latest idea brings a familiar issue right back to the surface: Draymond Green.
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey put together a three-team trade that would send Banchero, AJ Green and Goga Bitadze to the Bay Area. In return, Golden State would part with Jimmy Butler, 11th overall pick Yaxel Lendeborg, and first-round picks in 2027, 2029 and 2033.
It’s the kind of aggressive swing that could make sense on paper, but the Warriors have not exactly behaved like a team eager to empty the clip. They have not given up multiple first-round picks in a trade for more than a decade, and they’ve also been hesitant to move Butler after his torn ACL injury in Janaury. Lendeborg is another obvious hold-up after he won Summer League MVP and helped lead the team to the championship.
The bigger obstacle, though, is how Banchero would fit next to Green. Golden State ranked 20th in 3-point percentage last season, and that’s not a profile that can afford to stack two frontcourt players defenses are willing to ignore from deep.
Banchero is already one of the league’s most talented young players and looks headed for multiple All-Star appearances. But his first four seasons have also made one thing clear: he needs the right shooting around him to work at his best.
That’s where the problem with Green comes in. If the Warriors landed Banchero, they’d have the pieces to build the right kind of group around him - but only if Green were moved in another deal. Golden State could simply wait and let Green leave in free agency, though that would hardly deliver immediate value after surrendering Butler, Lendeborg and three first-round picks.
If the Warriors were serious about making the most of a Banchero deal, the cleanest path would be to trade Green and give Banchero and Stephen Curry the best possible chance to click right away.
Would Golden State actually make that kind of double move? Almost certainly not. But if the Warriors and Magic stumble early this season, it’s the kind of radical scenario that could at least come back onto the table.
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